Southwest Harbor, Maine: Things to Do, Stay & Eat

Southwest Harbor is where Mount Desert Island still works for a living. It sits on the western shore of Somes Sound, and where the eastern side of the island has hotels and tour buses, this side has boatyards, a lobster co-op, and a main street that serves residents as much as visitors.

For anyone visiting Acadia National Park, the trade is a good one. You are twenty minutes from the Park Loop Road, on the doorstep of the island's quieter trails, and paying less for a room.

What Southwest Harbor is known for

Boatbuilding. The Hinckley Company has built yachts here for close to a century, and the yards along the shore are still full of hulls in various states of repair. The harbor is a working one, and the lobster boats outnumber the pleasure craft.

The other landmark is just down the road in Tremont: Bass Harbor Head Light Station (4.4 across 4,616 Google reviews) is the most photographed lighthouse in Maine. It faces west, so it is a sunset stop, and the small parking area fills fast in season. Go early or late.

Things to do

Eat on the water. Beal's Lobster Pier (4.5 from 1,142 reviews) is the classic pick-your-own-lobster pier; Abel's Lobster (4.6 from 1,096 reviews) sits above Somes Sound with the better view; The Nor'Easter Pound & Market (4.4 from 659 reviews) covers the market end.

On the park side, the Jordan Pond Path Trailhead (4.8 from 569 reviews) is close, and the western mountains (Beech, Bernard, Mansell) carry a fraction of the traffic of the Beehive or Cadillac. Echo Lake is the island's warm-water swimming option, several degrees more comfortable than Sand Beach.

The Wendell Gilley Museum, devoted to bird carving, is a genuinely good small museum, and the Seal Cove Auto Museum (4.9 from 477 reviews) holds an unexpectedly serious collection of brass-era cars.

Getting here and when to go

Take Route 102 south from the head of the island. The free Island Explorer shuttle connects the village to the park and to Bar Harbor in season.

The season runs late May to mid-October, peaking in August. September is the best month here. The water is at its warmest, the crowds have thinned, and the boatyards are busy hauling for winter.

Common questions

Is Southwest Harbor a good base for Acadia?

Yes, especially if you want the quiet side of Mount Desert Island.

You are farther from the Park Loop Road, so plan an early start on days you want Cadillac or Jordan Pond.

What is the difference between Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor?

Bar Harbor is the busy one, with the hotels, the shops, the cruise ship traffic and most of the island's restaurants, sitting beside the park's main loop.

Southwest Harbor is a working harbor town on the far side of Somes Sound, with a fraction of the crowds, fewer places to eat and much quieter evenings.

Which suits you depends on what you want after dark.

Where do you eat lobster in Southwest Harbor?

Beal's Lobster Pier is the classic: pick your lobster at the dock and eat it at a picnic table over the water.

Can you swim in Southwest Harbor?

In fresh water, yes.

Echo Lake, a short drive north of the village, has the nearest swimming beach and warms up far more than the sea does.

Ocean temperatures around Mount Desert Island stay cold straight through the summer, so saltwater swimming is a short business for most people.

The lake beach fills on hot afternoons, so arrive early.

How does Southwest Harbor differ from Bar Harbor?

Southwest Harbor has a working-harbor focus and puts western-island outings closer. Bar Harbor offers a larger concentration of visitor services near the eastern park loop. Choose by your planned days and evening preferences.

Is Echo Lake an ocean beach?

No. Echo Lake is freshwater, unlike Sand Beach on the open coast. Choose by the setting and current conditions, not a fixed temperature promise or an assumption that one is always safe for swimming.